Beerfest Asia 2009
a) Select an event or festival from the recommended list below for your field trip
Starting off with a simple introduction of the festival I visited on the 3rd of May 2009.
I visited the Singapore Beer Festival, Beer Fest Asia at Singapore, which was held right next to The Singapore Flyer.
It was close to the time of the night when the festival gets heated up. I arrived at the Singapore Beer Festival around 1830hours which so happens to be the last day of the festival.
There wasn’t a huge crowd at that time, but as the sky turns darker, the crowd arises and everyone started to enjoy the time of the night.
There is a similar beer festival that happened in Los Angeles, which was the La Beer Festival.
The La Beer Festival was held on the 4th and 5th of April and was deemed successful.
b) Compare the selected festival with a similar festival that has been successful in another city in terms of its marketing strategy
In comparison of the marketing strategies that both countries used is to exercise the 8 ‘Ps’.
The experiential components are the Product, Place, Programming and People while the facilitating components are Partnerships, Promotion, Packaging and distribution as well as Price.
PRODUCTS
Firstly, it was that the Products of the two festivals were relatively similar as both festivals are promoting and selling beers produced from around the world. The potential customers that the two festivals are targeting are beer lovers as well as journalists.
Both festivals allow the customers to try the different beers from around the world. It meets the needs and wants of these beer lovers and they will gladly pay for it to try the beers they have never tasted before.
PLACE
Secondly, it will be the Place of the festival that will affect itself. The locations that both festivals chose are quite different. The Singapore Beer Festival is located right beside Singapore’s Highest Attraction which is The Singapore Flyer.
Outstanding Buildings located near the Singapore Beer Festival are Suntec City and Marina Square where customers can visit after going to the Beer Festival. For the La Beer Festival, it is situated at a business district in Culver City, where companies like Columbia Tri Star Motion, Sony Pictures and Tri Star Pictures are located. The La Beer Festival will be held in Sony Studios.
The facilitating components of this two are quite similar as both festivals’ distribution event products, the beers, are only sold inside the festival.
However, the only difference was that tickets for the Beer Festival in Singapore can be bought beforehand as well as buying it at the door.
For the Beer Festival in Los Angeles, it would be so that the tickets are limited and must be purchased in advance as tickets will not be sold at the door.
The Beer Festival in Singapore provided Shuttle Bus Services as the nearest train station will take quite a long walk.
PROGRAMMING
Beer Fest Asia Singapore provided live performances from different bands like Heritage, a local band, and Vertical Horizon, from the USA, which helps to hype up the spirits of the customers.
Similarly, La Beer Festival also provided a series of live performances from tribute bands like Hollywood U2 as well as Petty Cash.
However, one additional Programming item that Beer Fest Asia Singapore provides is games like pool table, air hockey, foosball and pinball machines. There is also a National Arm Wrestling Championship which was Singapore’s first arm wrestling competition.
PEOPLE
The hospitality that is received by the customers shapes their experiences. Both the Beer Fest Asia Singapore and La Beer Festival include People promoting the beers and the people who served the customers’ beer. The interactions between the customers and staffs, plays a large part of event experience that gives the customers a sense of satisfaction upon being at the festival.
PARTNERSHIPS
In addition, having Partnerships with the Government is also part of the marketing strategies. Prices might be modified as well as the products to make the packages more attractive. The festival worked together with the Singapore Tourism Board where there was a F1 booth which promotes racing simulations and record breakers gets attractive prizes.
However, the La Beer Festival did not really emphasize on having a partnership with others while having their own live tribute bands performing, as well as the barbecue that was included in the admission.
PROMOTIONS
For the Beer Fest Asia Singapore, the tickets are sold at,
· Concession - $10
· Early Bird - $20
· At the Door - $35
· Hospitality - $78
The Concession tickets are only for SAFRA members, Senior Citizens, Tertiary Students as well as NSF.
The Early Bird and At the Door tickets have Promotions like discounted rates for specific credit card holders, while the hospitality tickets provides a free ride on the Singapore Flyer, a beer runner service, one $20 food and beverage voucher and a reserved seat in the main marquee. However, the hospitality tickets require a minimum booking of 8 tickets.
This allows students to enter at a cheaper rate to have an experience of a beer festival. The minimum tickets to be bought for the hospitality tickets is however a good chance for overseas customers who travelled their way here for the beer festival and enjoy their ride on The Singapore Flyer.
Unlike Beer Fest Asia Singapore, La Beer Festival does not have a strong advantage in terms of promotion as for the festival, which was held in Los Angeles, discounted tickets are sold online $15 off the original price. The ticket was originally US$40.
PACKAGING & DISTRIBUTION
The Beer Fest Asia 2009 was located right behind The Singapore Flyer, which in turn packaged the Beer Festival alongside The Singapore Flyer where the attraction and event became Packaging partners and the tickets were sold by BYTES.
The La Beer Festival was held in the Sony Studios where the festival and Sony Studios worked together and made Sony Studios a temporary attraction for the La Beer Festival customers.
This Packaging helped the different intermediaries build good relationships among the event, company and attraction. All three plays a part in selling the tickets to increase the sales target.
PRICE
The beers offered at the Beer Fest Asia Singapore are reasonable; the merchandises that are sold in the festival are also quite affordable and reasonable.
The unique cocktail of Singapore, the Singapore Sling, was also sold at an affordable Price of $10 for two bottles. For the La Beer Festival held in Los Angeles, the prices of the beer are also reasonable.
However, the admission fee is a little expensive and there are no concessions for students and senior citizens like what Beer Fest Asia Singapore was practicing.
c) Inform your reader about these best practices
A few of the best practices I would like to highlight from the above two festivals are, the National Arm Wrestling Championship, which was also the first Arm Wrestling Championship held in Singapore.
In addition, the F1 Grand Prix booth that was situated inside the festival also entertained F1 fans as they get to try the simulation at a low price, and to pre-order the tickets for the Singtel F1 Grand Prix, getting their hands on the tickets before the rest does.
d) Identify the stakeholders in these festivals
The stakeholders of this event will be the;
Host Community, they are the people who live in the Festival area and being affected. Passer-bys like taxi drivers and bus passengers are also affected by it.
Singapore Tourism Board, to help promote the Beer Fest Asia to people locally as well as the tourists in Singapore.
Transportation Companies, shuttle bus services that are provided to and fro the event venue as well as the Train Station for the convenience of the people attending the festival.
Co-workers, volunteers as well as staffs of the festival. Business partners like the Singapore Tourism Board to be part of the festival as well.
Sponsorships, Citibank is one of the many sponsors of this festival. It provides discounts and privileges to Citibank card holders which thereby attract more Citibank card holders.
Singapore Flyer, the Singapore Flyer gives Beer Fest Asia a good venue to host their event as well as to promote the attraction as well.
Media, radio, newspapers, tv advertisments are all part to promote the festival. Some examples are The Straits Times and Power 98FM.
Participants and spectators, the staff management and the customers that are part of the festival.
e) Reflect on the main purpose of this event or festival
The festival is to allow locals or tourists to taste the richness of the different kinds of beer from around the world. It is to bring more varieties of beers to Singapore as well as to promote the beers from other countries.
This festival is also linked to understanding the origins of the beers that many people consume but has no knowledge about them.
In addition, it helps to create revenue for the country as it helps improve the economic situation as well.
Tourists that are initially visiting Singapore for the Beer Fest Asia will in turn visit other attractions which help boost the economy as well.
This festival also helps people to socialize with different people of different races but with one thing in common, which is the love of drinking beer.
At the Beer Fest, I saw a table where there was a mixture of Chinese and Indian drinking alongside each other and sharing the joy of the beer. It is a good approach to promote racial harmony as well.
f) Comment on the amount of tourism benefits received by the host city of the chosen event
Festivals and events are part of the aspects that helps generate revenue as well as the increase in the rate of tourism. These festivals and events are hosted partly to gain economic and tourism benefits. Mainly, will be the economic and the socio-cultural benefits.
Firstly the Economic benefits, as said earlier, as the rate of tourism increases, so does the GDP of the country. Thus, it helps to bring up the standard of living of the country as well as decreasing unemployment rate at the same time.
In addition, the Socio-cultural benefits, as the event is held, drinking is a form of hobby for people of every race. Thus it helps to promote racial harmony and to strengthen the relationships between the different races in Singapore, creating a harmonious city for all to live in.
The Beer Fest Asia Singapore also helps to promote the culture of the origins of different beers, sending out better knowledge of the other countries’ culture and habits.
The hosting of the Beer Festival in Singapore shows that Singapore is a city with a young and vibrant night life which sets the Generation Y people thinking that Singapore is not just a Garden City but a City where youngsters can await to experience the night life. This helps to attract people of younger generation to patronize the Beer Festival and to socialize among themselves, helping to build better relationships among the youngsters in Singapore.
CONCLUSION
Summing up everything, this festival is considered a tourist attraction. If the targeted audiences are rightly chosen, by publicizing and through the word of mouth, this festival can easily become a tourist attraction if the audiences deem fit. In addition, if the service provided at the Beer Festival is higher than average, it is highly possible that tourists will be back for other events and festivals hosted in Singapore in the near future.
Pictures on the post below.
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